Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Aloor Chop or Alur Chop -- Revisited

Thus it goes with names of whatever fruits available at home. And then

"I am a fruit salad"...with peals of laughter

Right on cue we start laughing too. We have to. For that my folks is a joke in LS's realm

She has a whole repository of Knock, Knock jokes. She makes them up. None of them make sense. They are not even funny. But we laugh.

It really doesn't matter. Laughing does though.

***************

Yesterday while watching the Oscars Big Sis asks me,
"If you were a director of a very important movie and one day something very important had to be done for the movie and also the same day something very important needs to be done for the family, what would you choose ?"

I was stunned by the question. These are the kind of questions I would expect at the last page of Ladies Home Journal, not from a 7 year old. I am waiting to see if she spurs such stuff at Daddy too.

I made Aloor/Alur Chop (Potato Fritters) after a long long time. I make these things so rare that sometimes I am not even sure the taste lingering in my memory is real or laced with imagination.Should it taste like this or should it taste like that ? The that is illusionary.

This time I made it more spicy because I thought I prefer it that way. Thehusband's versionis a tad less spicy. He says, mine are pretty good but not like Shoshthida's. Shosthida, the neighborhood telebhaja guy, spiced the potato less.

Makes sense. Shosthida, with all my apologies and admiration, had his perspiration, diesel fumes and dirt under his nails to make up for less spices he used. I perspire too, but not when the temp is at 45F and central heating is just making us comfortable.

Deep frying however makes up for anything I lack. With a bowl of muri on the side and a steaming cup of tea you won't ask for anything more. Ok, a "knock, knock" joke perhaps to complete the scene.

Get this recipe in my Book coming out soon. Check this blog sidebar for further updates.

Boil the potatoes, peel the skin and mash them. Use your fingers or a masher.

Heat little Oil in a Kadhai/Frying Pan. About 1-2 tsp should be fine.

Add the chopped garlic, minced Ginger, the green chillies and the onion.All of these should be chopped real fine so that you do not bite into anything but the potato when eating the chop.

Sauté till the onion wilts and is pinkish brown.

Add the Roasted Cumin powder and Red Chili Powder and saute for a minute.

Add the mashed potatoes.

Add salt and mix the masala well with the potatoes. Do not fry or cook the potato any further.Add a few drops of Mustard Oil to the potatoes if you want.

Let this cool

Make small balls of the mashed potatoes which is now spiced up with the masalas
Flatten them between your palm and place them on a lightly greased surface. They should be really flat and NOT thick like alu tikki.

Batter and Frying

Make a batter with the ingredients under Make Batter. Add the water gradually as you don’t want the batter to be runny. The batter should be tight as it has to form a coating on the potato patties.

Heat Fresh Oil in Kadhai/Frying Pan. The patties would be deep fried so add enough oil.

Dip the patties in the batter, so that the batter uniformly coats the patties
Gently release the dipped patties in the hot oil and hear the sizzle. Keep heat at medium.

Fry till both sides are golden brown.

Remove with a spoon/chalni which has slots/holes so that the excess oil drains out
Drain excess oil by placing the fried patties on a kitchen towel.

Sprinkle some Chat Masala or kala namak/black Rock salt(beet noon) on the patties while serving

My two year old says the same "Knock Knock" and i have to reply back "is it Pingu?"For him,pingu is the inspiration of crazy "knock knock".Thanks for the the alur chop recipe.,i will try to do this weekend(anyway weather says this weekend will be with snow shower..ideal for alur chop and muri.

Loved the analysis behind Shoshtida's tasty chops. We can never recreate that ambience at home, lol. Loved the Benagali newspaper holding Muri and Alur Chop. After coming to Bangalore, never had Alur Chop and Muri in the evenings. Must try this over the weekend. But I prefer Beguni or Piyazi over Alur Chop.

Sandeepa, what will we ever do without these little human beings? I have had enough knock knock jokes to last me a lifetime and more but the pleasure it gives these kids is immeasurable. Your alur choop is just delicious looking.

Hi Sandeepa, it looks yummy, and I can bet it tastes too... reminds me of the ones we bought frequently @ Lake Market..But loved the photo composition, the muri, and of course the Banglaa kagoj.... Hope your little ones will learn to appreciate the spirit and authenticity of the spread, when they grow up

Loved it!!I am new in cooking street and this recipe was very easy to follow. Thou made a small adjustment as my parents don't like bason. Made the batter with maida mixed with chilli powder, turmeric poweder and salt. Was yummy nonetheless :D

LinkWithin

Share This

Search This Blog

The Book

About Me

Predominantly a Bong, who loves being a Mom and loves to cook among other things for the li'l one and the big ones.She loves to write too and you will find her food spiced up with stories. Mainly a collection of Bengali Recipes with other kinds thrown in, in good measure. A Snapshot of Bengali Cuisine